Dismissal of suit by rape victim of former Fort Bragg soldier is upheld

Tuesday

Nov 26, 2013 at 12:01 AMNov 26, 2013 at 7:15 AM

By Drew Brooks Staff writer

A federal appeals court has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by the victim of a convicted serial rapist.

The victim, one of several whom Fort Bragg soldier Aaron Pernell was convicted of sexually assaulting, failed to show evidence that the Army had a duty to protect her from Pernell, according to an opinion released last week by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The opinion further states that incidents leading to the rape were not sufficient to make the crime foreseeable.

At the time of the December 2009 assault, Pernell was supposed to be under the Army's watch.

He had been charged that fall with burglarizing a Fayetteville home and was being separated from the military, according to court documents. He also expressed a repeated desire to kill himself and members of his unit.

After the charges, Pernell was placed under restrictions and was awaiting separation. According to court documents, there is a disagreement over what those restrictions were.

The victim alleges Pernell was required to have a noncommissioned officer escort him at all times and was to be checked on hourly to ensure that he remained in his barracks.

Pernell, in an affidavit filed from a military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., also said those were his restrictions. But he said he was not checked on and went off post nightly.

The government alleged that Pernell was only required to have an escort if he left Fort Bragg and he was not confined to his barracks or required to be checked on hourly.

The victim filed a lawsuit against the federal government in August 2011.

According to testimony in Pernell's military trial, the woman was attacked in her home in the Ste. Mere Eglise neighborhood and raped. Her husband was deployed overseas at the time.

In her lawsuit, the victim alleged that the Army was negligent in not enforcing the restrictions placed on Pernell and had a duty to "prevent harm to innocent base residents."

In their response to the lawsuit, government lawyers argued that the allegations do not prove the government was negligent or that Pernell's later crimes were predictable.

A U.S. District Court judge agreed and dismissed the case in September 2012.

Pernell, now 26, from Tulsa, Okla., has admitted to the rapes and other accusations against him, but he maintained in his affidavit that the Army failed him by ignoring pleas for help with mental illness related to a deployment to Iraq.

"I take personal responsibility for raping (the victim). I know what I did was wrong. I know I hurt their family badly and I am sorry for it," he wrote. "But I also know that the Army failed me. I cried out for help over and over but they did not help me. They broke their own rules and did not help me. Then, when I began to come apart prior to the rape of (the victim), the Army issued orders, which, if followed, would have prevented me from raping (the victim). But the orders weren't followed. The Army totally failed me and the others I hurt."

In December 2010, Pernell was sentenced to 50 years in prison by a military judge. He was demoted to E-1, dishonorably discharged and forfeited all pay.

At the trial, the victim told a military judge that she relived the rape every night in her dreams. She said the attack shattered her life and her view of the military.

"I used to be a proud Army wife," the victim said. "Now I'm ashamed to say I'm the wife of a soldier, that a soldier could do this."

She said she had been diagnosed with depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress.

In addition to the charges on Fort Bragg, Pernell was accused of dozens of crimes in Cumberland and Hoke counties related to break-ins and assaults on seven women between fall 2008 and August 2009.

The crimes were among a series of attacks in the two counties during the latter half of 2009 that terrified residents and prompted investigators to form a special task force.

Pernell became a suspect in the off-post crimes after his arrest on Fort Bragg in early 2010.

Earlier this year, he was sentenced to 167 years in prison for the crimes off Fort Bragg after pleading guilty during a February court date in Raeford.

That sentence will run concurrent with Pernell's earlier sentence from the military court.

During sentencing, Pernell's lawyers described him as being raised in a deeply religious home and having a troubled background. They said Pernell was sexually abused as a child by two family members and a family friend.

Contact Us

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
The Fayetteville Observer ~ 458 Whitfield St., Fayetteville, NC 28302 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service